Vince Carter went on the injured list after straining his left
quadriceps in Toronto's win over San Antonio on February 7. The
Raptors have not won since, but Carter is eligible to return
Wednesday against Charlotte.

On Monday, the Raptors whittled a 72-56 deficit entering the
fourth quarter to 78-70 on a layup by Tracy Murray with 6:33
left. But Stackhouse countered with a steal and reverse dunk,
and Detroit led by double digits thereafter.

Ben Wallace had 13 points and 13 rebounds for Detroit, which won
for the 10th time in its last 12 games. Clifford Robinson added
16 points for the Pistons, who opened a two-game lead over the
Raptors for the fourth playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.

"Ben Wallace hit some big shots in the first quarter," Detroit
coach Rick Carlisle said. "He delivered for us early and (had)
another strong night on the boards. Any time he gets you
double-figure points to go along with the rebounds, it ususally
adds up to a winning effort for the team."

Antonio Davis had 21 points, tying his season high, and 14
rebounds for the Raptors, who dropped their fourth consecutive
road contest. Keon Clark chipped in 14 and 12.

"I see the light because we're competing," Davis said. "We're
not waiting for guys to come back. I hate losing, but you feel
us coming together. We're starting to gel. I think right now we
just want a win."

"I think we're playing what our game is, and that is to be a
defensive team first, to play a physical-style game," Carlisle
said. "We happen to have a group of guys that takes some pride
in playing defense. A lot of teams don't like playing the
defensive end of the floor. There are guys on our team that
really like the challenge."

"Detroit made some great shots," Raptors coach Lenny Wilkens
said. "Sometimes we helped too much and they made some wide-open
shots, but give them credit, they played well."

Detroit closed the first quarter on a 14-6 run to take a 23-17
lead. The Pistons shot 61 percent (11-of-18) and the Raptors
just 36 percent (8-of-22) through 12 minutes of play.

"I thought we came with good energy at the beginning of the
game," Stackhouse said. "They made some shots, they made some
tough plays and we still had a close game, but we felt like we
were in control of the game because we were playing with a lot
of force from the beginning."

Detroit extended its advantage to 50-39 at halftime and led by
as many as 17 points late in the third quarter.

"We put ourselves in a good position," said Robinson, whose team
moved into a first-place tie with Milwaukee atop the Central
Division after Charlotte defeated the Bucks on Monday. "We don't
have to just think about slipping into one of the last playoff
spots. We can start thinking about a top spot and maybe even
catching Milwaukee. Our expectations are going up."

In addition to Carter, the Raptors were missing the injured Dell
Curry, Jerome Williams and Hakeem Olajuwon.

"We just got to play our way through it," Wilkens said. "It's
sounds old, but when you have as many people out as we do, hey,
it's a fact and we've gotta just keep working hard. I do see
good things."

This was the third meeting between the division rivals this
season. Each team defeated the other on the road in the
previous two games.